"Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, many just gargle, but the majority will die of dehydration!!!" -Louis BeveridgeWise man, Louis. He's one of my neighbors here in East Greensboro. Greensboro's elites would have you believe the working classes aren't smart enough to run our city when in fact, most are simply too busy working to stay alive, leaving only the idle rich in charge.
As Mayor of Greensboro I plan to change that.
Besides, only the smartest can survive the worst. Being poor and working class constantly prepares one for the worst life can throw at you.
If you've been reading my series Say Yes To Education-- The E-mails,then you've probably noticed we are again experiencing a lack of transparency with City of Greensboro funded non profit agencies. The law is very clear on this: Non profits which receive government funding are subject to the same public records laws as are the governments that fund them.
Now allow me to be very clear: When I am elected Mayor of Greensboro I will seek to stop any and all City funding to any non profit found to be failing to meet public records laws from this date, July 9, 2016 forward. No more warnings.
Send me those unanswered public information requests, people. If they won't give me the answers then the staff here at EzGreensboro.com and I will tell the world.
It's called Tough Love and it's time a few folks in cushy jobs at the top got a taste of what they love to preach.
I write these posts in advance of posting but comments in a thread at the Facebook group, Greater Greensboro Politics prompted me to come back and add what I'm about to say next.
City of Greensboro employees are required to take pre-employment and random drug screens. The Mayor of Greensboro and City Council members are not. I intend to change that. I submit that the Mayor and City Council should be subject to all the same rules that City employees are subject to.
That includes things like owning or being affiliated with businesses or special interest groups that receive any kind of direct or indirect benefit from the City of Greensboro. If City of Greensboro employees are not allowed to work under these conditions (and they are not) then why should city council members be allowed to rule under these conditions?
Of course, passing this law will mean that the majority of our current city council is no longer eligible to serve on City Council but what is good for the goose is good for the gander and as long as these things continue to be allowed we will never have real transparency in Greensboro government.
So tell your elected leaders they must be willing to make the same sacrifices they demand City employees to make or get off the pot.
Something else I was thinking about: why are we having a problem with homeless people being forced to use downtown streets as restrooms when solving the problem is as simple as building a couple of downtown restrooms open to the public? The State maintains numerous rest areas along the sides of Interstate highways-- why can't Greensboro build rest areas in places where lots of people are subject to go? I mean, seriously, with every business in town these days allowing only customers to use their restrooms surely the homeless aren't the only ones in need.
Parks and Recreation maintains restrooms all over town-- why not downtown too?It's called infrastructure just like the water and sewer lines it would connect to. Want to get more shoppers downtown? Make downtown a more pleasant place to shop. Quit getting rid of benches and add more benches. Sleeping on a bench does no harm. What does harm is the attitude that someone is somehow too good to walk among the masses.
And why are government subsidized downtown parks not open all night? Are the downtown elites living in Roy Carroll's government subsidized tower so full of themselves that they think the park actually belongs to them? The place is well lighted, if park visitors aren't bothering anyone then leave them alone.
Or finally start paying property taxes on what is the most valuable piece of real estate in all of Guilford County, North Carolina.
I'm a stickler for the rules. But I'm also one who has no use what-so-ever for useless and absurd rules that cannot be justified. Those parks still have to be patrolled be they closed or empty-- the cost to the City of Greensboro is nil to keep them open all night. And like I say, If Action Greensboro, the Bryan Foundation and the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro don't want to start paying property taxes on those publicly subsidized, privately owned parks then they'll stop closing them at night.
And finally, why didn't Zack Methany, Mayor Nancy Barakat "Grasshopper" Vaughan or the rest of the Greensboro City Council ever think of these things.
Find out more of my plans in If I Were Mayor of Greensboro: Part 30 as soon as it goes live. Until then you can read the rest of my platform at Billy Jones For Mayor of Greensboro, 2017.
